Shipley Rotary Club has come to the rescue of a heartbroken young dancer to help make her dream of stardom come true.

Ten-year-old Emily Row was devastated when her lorry driver father died three weeks ago from a sudden heart attack at work.

Neil Hargreaves was her number one fan and, although he lived apart from Emily, he helped fund her twice-weekly dance lessons at Elgeez Dance Studio in Shipley and pay for costs of getting her to and from competitions.

Since his death Emily's mum Jane, from Eccleshill, who works part-time in an office, has been struggling to pay the £60-a-month fees.

To find funding, Jane made an appeal in the Telegraph & Argus and offers of help soon came flooding in.

Now members of Shipley Rotary Club have promised to pay for six months of Emily's tuition and donations of about £160 from other readers will go towards the cost of getting her to and from contests around the UK.

Jane said: "Emily was over the moon and couldn't stop grinning when I told her the news. We are genuinely touched by their generosity.

"We've also had a few other donations from people which have been lovely and will be used to help pay for the competition expenses and costumes she needs.

"Emily's dad was extremely proud of her and her dancing and it means a lot to her to make sure she keeps it up for his sake as well as hers.

"She absolutely adores going along to her classes and taking part in competitions. She wants to be a famous dancer one day and be in big shows.

"Emily is still missing her dad a lot but people's kindness is helping her get through it - although it's still one day at a time."

Emily has been dancing since she was six and in just one year of competing has been awarded 19 trophies. Disco, rock and roll and freestyle are what she enjoys most and she definitely has star-potential according to her teacher Lindsey Garbutt.

Anthony Kassapian from Shipley Rotary Club said: "We were delighted to help. We read about her in the Telegraph & Argus, saw the link to Shipley and thought it was such a good cause. We've told Emily we're hoping she's going to become a world champion one day."

Anyone else interested in sponsoring Emily should call Jane on 07986 934445.